Timescales?

[Guest DonnyBren]

Hi all,

First of all I must say that this site has been a great help to me so far and answered lots of my questions, but this is my first post.

I am a chartered mechanical engineer and my fiancée and I have started the long application for a visa (under the general skilled migration visa). We have employed an agent to act on our behalf, this is for 2 reasons really, we are hoping that employing an agent will mean we get the forms and documents right first time, also we are getting married in January next year, so it is one less thing to stress about. Anyone got any experience of using agents? Do they make the application quicker?

I sent off for my skills to be assessed on 1st June, we have been told that this will take 8 weeks, then we can apply for the main visa, which could take between 6 and 15 months. Has anyone got any experience on timescales? What is the average length of time for the visa application?? I would love to have the visa for Feb 09 so we can emigrate straight after the wedding, but think this is a little optimistic.

Another question I have is about my fiancée, she has started the application under her maiden name, but this will change probably before the visa is issued, will this cause a delay? Anyone got any experience of this from their application?

Many thanks, :spinny:

Bren.